The console war has raged on for nearly four years now and the both the PS3 and Xbox 360 have gone through several revisions and incarnations. With existing features taken away and even added, how do the consoles stack up against each other?

IGN has put together an excellent comparison purely from a technical perspective, without getting into opinion territory like exclusives or online service.

Unsurprisingly the PS3 came out on top, not because its a year newer but because Sony invested much more into R&D for the PS3. Sony invested $1.6 billion into just developing the Cell Broadband Processor alone.

Sony started crafting the PS3 early on while the PS2 was still going strong and even before Microsoft started developing the Xbox 360 as revealed by Venture Beat.

However, despite starting later, Microsoft did end up rushing the Xbox 360 one year early inevitably resulting in the Red Ring of Death (RRoD). While Sony also faced some challenges which forced the company in delaying the PS3 launch due to a shortage of Blu-ray laser diodes.

Both Microsoft and Sony took different routes. Microsoft loaded the Xbox 360 with the latest tech (customized) at that time for the PC. While Sony went on to develop its own technology and even invested in experimental tech such as the super fast XDR ram.

The routes taken really reflect the corporate cultures of both companies – Microsoft: run by businessmen with a strong software heritage and Sony: run by engineers with a strong hardware legacy.